Names, brands, writing, and the language of commerce.

October 12, 2009

O Cranada

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving, neighbo(u)rs to the north! In your hono(u)r, I propose a toast with the perfect celebratory libation: Cranpagne from Motts Landing Vineyard in New Brunswick. Well, a virtual toast: Cranpagne's not for sale down here. Nevertheless, I'm delighted for two reasons:

1. The name. It's a new-to-me cranberry morpheme (or cran-morph) brand—and not from Ocean Spray, inventor of the original cran-blend, Cran-Apple.

2. The utterly charming copy on the Cranpagne web page, which begins:

We're not going to tell you how or when you should enjoy Cranpagne, you'll discover that yourself. We're just going to make it difficult for you, and for that we apologize.

Apologizing from the get-go! You won't get that from your Napa Valley wineries, no siree.

Comments

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Ten bucks says Ocean Spray goes after them. They're serious trademark bullies. But Motts Landing Vineyard and their website are an absolute hoot, even though I'm not sure how they get the abbreviation M'LV from that name - could be just the general Canadian panic in the face of an apostrophe decision. I only wish we could try some for our own Thanksgiving celebration.